854552 - Event - (2013-04-11 12:00 UTC-7) - Ten Forward - Poetic APIs

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Air Mozilla :: Events, task)

Description

[Erik Rose [:erik][:erikrose]]

Topic: Poetic APIs
Presenter: Erik Rose
Date: 2013-04-11
Time: 12:00 UTC-7
Duration: 1 Hour
Privacy: The Public
Large Screen Location: MTV, 
Description: 
Human languages influence the thoughts their speakers think. Similarly, each time you coin a new function or name a variable, you invent a new piece of language which will either amplify or hobble the efforts of your users—including Future You. Come on an excursion through 8 aspects of a good API, replete with examples (and bloopers) from popular Python libraries. Walk away with an checklist of code smells that will help keep your design from going awry.
Special Requirements:
I'm flexible on the date. Thursdays and Fridays are best. Thank you!

Comment 1

[Erik Rose [:erik][:erikrose]]

I wrote a horrendous description. Here's a less horrendous one:

API design is one of the most difficult areas of programming. Besides solving your immediate problem, you must also accomodate unknown future ones—and fit nicely into other people's brains. Let's explore how to do this without a time machine, considering compactness, orthogonality, consistency, safety, coupling, state handling, and the messy interface with human cognition, all illustrated with practical examples—and gruesome mistakes—from several popular Python libraries.

Comment 2

[Richard A Milewski[:richard]]

Changed the description on AirMo

Comment 3

[Erik Rose [:erik][:erikrose]]

Thanks! I appreciate it.